Stoke The Fire (Levi X Reader)

10.

Levi POV

"Ah, Officer Ackerman... They're both fine."

The doctor's words bounced around in my mind for a long moment before they actually sunk in and my eyes went wide. I stood from the chair and hurried to his side, grabbing his arm before he could exit the room. "Both? As in, two? Is she..." I stumbled over my own words in my agitated state. "Is she pregnant?" The doctor looked just as surprised as I felt but he nodded to answer my question. "You are her significant other, aren't you? I figured you knew about the pregnancy. It appears I was wrong to assume that." My mind was reeling and I felt like my heartbeat was up in my throat as I processed this information. I had thought about a future family with (Name) many times in the past couple of months, but I didn't expect it to become a reality so soon, especially when I had yet to pluck up the courage to ask her to marry me. This was all happening backwards and I couldnt quite wrap my head around the situation. But I certainly wasn't angry. Just confused.

My grip loosened on the doctor's arm as I stared at him in shock but I forced the next question out before he could pull away from me and leave. "How far along is she?" My anxious state was eased only for a second upon seeing the soft look on the doctor's face. "Around five weeks. I'll be back to check on her later. Make sure to call a nurse if she wakes up." And with that, he left me standing in the room staring at the now closed door as I tried to fully process everything I just learned.

After a few minutes I snapped back to reality and paced my way back to my chair, a new slew of questions running through my mind. How did it happen? Was she aware yet that she was pregnant? If so, why didn't she tell me? Was she not going to tell me? Was she scared I'd be angry with her? This was most definitely an accidental pregnancy, but I could never blame her for it. Besides, it wasn't like I didn't want to have kids with her. I did. But I had expected to marry her first. A baby... Our baby... Marry her... I had to stop being such a coward and ask her to marry me. I abruptly stood from my chair again and rushed out of the hospital room.

~~~~

Reader POV

I awoke to harsh white lights on the ceiling and the steady beeping of a vitals monitor beside me and I knew right away that I was in a hospital. It brought me a feeling of ease to know that I was alive and stable in a hospital bed after the events of the night. My head however throbbed with a bad headache and my throat felt raw. My lungs were a little tingly too. It was a strange feeling but I must have inhaled quite a lot of smoke so it was no surprise that my body was a bit worse for wear right now.

Looking around I noticed that the room was empty but there was a guest chair haphazardly tipped over beside the bed. Someone had been here... And they'd left in a hurry. Or at least thats how it appeared. Who knows if my guess was right. I pushed myself to sit up a bit in the lumpy hospital bed and turned my head to look out the crack in the curtains on the window. A faint orange glow filtered through that told me it must be dawn and the sun was beginning to rise and bathe the city in its warm rays. I was incredibly thankful to be alive right now, even if the lingering realization that I'd lost my house and everything in it floated around at the back of my mind.

I frowned slightly at the window but my attention was brought away from it to the door of the room when it opened very quickly. Levi stood in the doorway, hand on the doorknob and his other hand clenched something small by his side as he panted heavily to catch his breath. He must have been running. I gave him a mildly concerned look and he looked shocked to see me sitting up in bed when our eyes met. "Y-You're awake..." He breathed out and continued to try and catch his breath as he walked across the room after his dramatic entrance. He fixed the chair beside my bed and sat down in it a bit akwardly and I could only smile softly at him.

"Yes, I am. You look worse than I feel. What on earth are you so out of breath for?" I turned the conversation to be about him, much more curious about his antics than about other things at the moment. After all, I had expected him to be worriedly sitting beside my bed waiting for me to wake up, not bursting into my room like some crazy person after I was already awake. Not that I minded the interesting way to wake up...

Levi glanced from my face down to his hands in his lap and then back to me. He didn't seem interested in answering my question by the tense look on his features. And instead he turned the conversation around again, staring down at his hands once more. "I thought I was going to lose you... I was so scared when I saw them bring you out of your burning home on a stretcher. Seeing you laying there on the brink of death as they loaded you into the ambulance really made me think about what I wanted." He paused and I didnt dare interrupt him, watching him intently as he played with some small black box in his hands on his lap. "And then I heard from the doctor that you were going to be okay... I wanted to be here when you woke up, but... There was somewhere I needed to go. I had to get something. Something I should have gotten a long time ago but I was just too much of a damned coward to do it."

Levi trailed off again and frowned, clearly having an internal struggle as he searched for his next words. He finally looked up at me again and I gave him a soft look, silently urging him to continue with what he wanted to say. It was obvious that the man was in shambles and was having trouble keeping himself together as his hands fidgeted with the little box more. He took it into one hand and got up from the chair to stand right beside my bed, taking my hand in his free but trembling one. He stroked the back of my hand with his thumb and sighed in frustration with himself. "Damn it, why is this still so hard to do?" He muttered to himself under his breath and I tilted my head at him in curiosity. His eyes were focused on our hands and he stayed quiet for a long time.

I carefully shifted in the bed, moving to sit on the edge of it with my legs hanging over the edge. The sharp cold of the floor soaked up through the soles of my feet and I shivered just a little. "Levi, look at me for a moment, please?" I urged him and he did as asked while I slipped my hand away from his hold. He looked so confused about his own emotions right now and I frowned lightly at him, reaching up to place both of my hands gently on his cheeks to hold his gaze on mine. "You want to ask me something. I can tell. I dont know what it is, but the Levi I know wouldn't let his worries hold him back from something he wanted to do." My frown turned into a soft smile at my boyfriend as I watched the look in his eyes simmer down. He leaned his head into my touch and closed his eyes for a brief moment with a deep breath before he pulled away from me and stood properly. "You're right, I'm being stupid and I should just do it."

I held his now more confident gaze and he sucked in another deep breath, letting it out slowly before moving to kneel down on one knee. Butterflies immediately fluttered around in the pit of my stomach as I watched him hold up the black box in front of himself, facing it towards me. It was obvious where this was going now but this was most definitely not what I was expecting him to ask me. Not one bit. "(Name)..." Levi started with my full name, even my middle name, popping open the box to reveal a dainty rose gold ring with three small princess cut diamonds in a row on the top. "Would you spend the rest of your life with me?" I felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest upon hearing that question, it was easy to tell by the way the beeping from the monitor sped up significantly. Hot tears pricked at my eyes and I couldn't seem to form words as I covered my mouth with a hand, trying my hardest not to cry from the overwhelming wave of emotions washing over me. I managed to nod vigorously just as a worried nurse came in to check on me because of my heart rate spiking suddenly like that.

Levi POV

The immense relief I felt at seeing (Name) nod to my question was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes as well but I held them back, smiling as I reached for her left hand, carefully sliding the ring onto her ring finger before she grabbed my face again. Only this time she pulled me up to kiss her which I didn't protest to in the least. I gently slipped one hand behind her head and curled my fingers into her soft hair, leaning into the needy kiss she gave me. It didn't last too long though as she pulled away first and examined the ring on her finger with teary eyes and a bright smile.